APDS Blogger: Tala Mohebi

Sometimes effective public diplomacy can be conducted through a simple and unambiguous gesture. Such was the case when President Barack Obama recently commemorated the 50th anniversaries of 17 African nations’ independence at the White House. The gesture – or really a non-gesture – was to not invite a single African head of state to the event.

These videos are part of the series CPD Video Conversations: National Branding at Expo 2010 Shanghai.

These videos are part of the series CPD Video Conversations: National Branding at Expo 2010 Shanghai.

A view of various illuminated pavilions after dark at the 2010 Shanghai Expo:

One of the most impressive online U.S. public diplomacy venues is Magharebia, a website and news service for North Africans that is published by the United States African Command (AFRICOM).

While the global community has been busy parading at the Shanghai Expo 2010, for Taiwan, simply taking part in the world’s fair is meaningful. It has been nearly 40 years since the island has been able to join the global showcase, when the Republic of China last participated at the Osaka Expo in 1970 during a period when Taipei still held official diplomatic relations with Tokyo.

As global framing contests go, one of the most spectacular is the transnational effort to define proper regulation of the Internet (and in the process characterize China’s information policy). In June, China’s State Information Office issued a White Paper on the Internet.

APDS Blogger: Mark Preston